Branded as Lightwave Extreme and Lightwave Extreme Unlimited, the new plans are based on Chorus’ 200 Mbps service – which means the plans are only available in the Chorus fibre areas.

Upload speeds on the plans are 50 Mbps. Snap says there is no bandwidth management on the plans.

Snap says the service†is currently available on a trial basis and will be limited to the first 1,000 subscribers. This restriction hints at the limitations of the GPON technology used to deliver fibre services on the UFB network.

Mark Petrie, Snap’s chief executive says the plans are designed for retail customers but a business product is on the way.

Snap is something of a favourite with Chorus at the moment. While other retail service providers have supported the Coalition for Fair Internet Pricing’s campaign to reduce the regulated fees paid to Chorus for a copper connection, the relatively small ISP has stayed out of the debate.

Snap says because the Lightwave Extreme service is only a trial some conditions may change. It says it “will transition any customers to similar or better future services.”